The reality star, 24, scored high marks and praise from the judges in the first three weeks of the ABC smash -- nabbing 24 out of 30 points (just 3 points shy of leader Ricki Lake) for her "Crazy in Love" samba with Mark Ballas on Monday's show.

"I'm really sad," Cavallari told Us Weekly after the elimination at Ubisoft 's launch of Just Dance 3 at The Beverly in West Hollywood.

"But," mused the Hills star, "I'd rather go out on top and have people be shocked than have people be like, 'Thank god she's leaving, it's about time.' It was the best experience I've ever had. I could not be happier that I did the show."

She mused that, perhaps, viewer votes had little do with her actual dancing skills. "It is what it is," she told Us. "That's the thing with Dancing with the Stars, you never know," she said, laughing. "It's clearly not a dance competition!"

Sentimental fave Chaz Bono -- whose mom Cher vowed to attend next week's performance if her son made it through -- survived the week despite nabbing the lowest score of 18.

But Cavallari is huge fan of Bono, 42, the show's first-ever transgendered contestant. "Chaz is so cute! I think he's great and he tries so hard, and I loved watching him dance every week. It's inspiring, and it's sweet, and I hope he does really well!"